Blackstone Group cancel the $2.8 billion sale of its Australian shopping mall

As per a source, the emergence of Amazon has hit the retail sector, was the reason for Blackstone to pull the sale.

Unable to find a suitable buyer the Blackstone Group has canceled the sale of a $2.8 billion Australian shopping mall, said a source who is familiar with the matter at hand, on the condition of anonymity.

“They pulled the sale process last week. The rationale was that with the level of market demand, they decided to focus on active management,” revealed the source. “They had strong offers, but only for individual assets, not for the whole 10 (malls). There’s been a hit on retail-sector sentiment because of the emergence of Amazon.”

A spokeswoman for Blackstone did not respond to a request for comment.

UBS, JP Morgan along with real estate agent Jones Land LaSalle (JLL) had the mandate to sell its Australian portfolio.

While a spokesman for JP Morgan had no comment on the development a spokeswomen for UBS and JLL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.